Importance
by asdf123150
Summary: Oz and Alice live in a world divided into light and darkness. Their ancestors cursed each other, long ago, so that they could never cross into the other side - to do so meant death. But Oz and Alice meet, and in defiance of the curse, try to be together. One-shot. Um, Ozlice? If you squint? And T for character death and darkness and depression and suicidalness...


**A/N:** So, yeah, I tried something new with this: Instead of the usual, I don't know, -0-o-0-o-0- or something, I decided to use Japanese emoticons that summarize the paragraph in front of it. If you don't get what they are, because I'm bad at emoticons like that (and because some images are just impossible to emoticon-ize) use Wikipedia. It's really useful.

* * *

_To be together is to change. To stay apart is to remain._

_Both options beget nothing but despair._

(._ .) ||||| (. _.)

They first met under the full moon, where the two of their worlds met – the girl, with hair as dark as night, in the darkness of the shadows, the boy bathed in light – and stood at the border, facing each other.

She was the first to talk.

"Who are you?"

On another day, at a different time, nothing would've happened. But the boy was lonely, and the girl was bored. So she asked, and he answered.

"Oz."

She smiled, and he was taken aback by the brightness of her smile, shining brightly in the world of darkness.

"Hi, Oz. My name is Alice."

('^.^) (^.^')

The next day, they met again, her carrying a stuffed black rabbit, him with nothingbut a silver watch that he played with, rolling it over in his hand, as he watched her approach.

"So, Oz." She rolled the word over in her mouth, experimentally. "What did you do to deserve to live in the light?"

He smiled, his own grin a near imitation of her own. "So, Alice. What did you do to deserve to live in the dark?"

She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

( ^v^)- -(^v^ )

"Wait – you're a Vessalius?"

"And _you're_ a _Baskerville?_"

They eyed each other warily, each cautious of the stranger who was also, coincidentally, the heir to their enemy's household. Oz was the first to relax.

"Well, whatever – Alice is still Alice, right?"

She blinked at him. "Don't you care that I'm your greatest enemy? That I'm the reason anyone of your bloodline will never be able to visit both worlds? That you're doomed to stay in the light forever?"

He grinned at her, an expression that she was already beginning to associate with him. "Not if you don't care that my ancestor is the reason you'll never enter the light."

She thought about it. Surprisingly enough, she didn't care. Not really. The darkness seemed a lot more bearable if she had him to keep her company.

(^v-) (^.^ )

"What? You want to try coming over?"

She grinned devilishly. "Sure! Why not? Nobody's actually ever _tried_ it before – how do they know for sure that I'll die?"

He watched as she began to comically stretch in preparation for this brave endeavour. The words slipped out before he could put any thought into them. "I'll do it with you."

She straightened and stared at him, wide-eyed. "Really, Oz? Would you really do that for me?"

He grinned. "Sure! After all, I could never live with myself if I let a lovely lady get herself hurt on my behalf."

Her face turned bright red. "You…" She whirled around. "Fine then! I'm not doing it anymore!"

He laughed and reached out to her. "Oh, come on, Alice, don't be like that…"

He stepped over the border, hands extended. "Alice. I'm coming."

She turned around just in time to watch him change.

In the space of those few seconds, his features lengthened and thinned. His hair grew at an exponential rate, braiding itself as it grew, until it had become a waist-length braid – still the same color as before, and yet… Different, somehow. His suddenly alien green eyes blinked at her, and she could detect the faintest hint of the Oz she knew as he teased, "Hey, Alice. Won't you cross over, too?"

She swallowed hard. "Oz… You grew."

He laughed. "I feel a bit different, too. Not quite _me,_ you know, but not too different, either. Come on – be a good sport!"

She stepped over.

The change was even clearer than it had been with Oz: As though crossing an invisible line, she turned…white. First her bangs, then the rest of her hair, as she crossed over fully. Her dress lightened and bleached to a pure white, and her bunny rabbit – which she always carried with her everywhere – turned pure white, just the same as the rest of her.

When she turned around, her eyes were the same clear violet as they always were.

"Wow." She stared at her hands, suddenly paler than they'd been before. "You're right. It's… Weird."

Oz laughed again. Even though she knew that it was him, his laugh sounded different. This Oz was different – older, more mature, but also just… Different.

She shook her head to clear her mind and quickly stepped back over the border. She felt so much better once she was back to her normal self.

"Hey!" she yelled, turning to face him. "You're not Oz anymore! So whenever you cross over, you need a different name!"

The older Oz smiled at her, amused, and she felt her heart skip a beat. "All right. Whatever you say, Alice. What's my new name, then?"

She didn't have to think about it for long. The name jumped to her mind, unbidden. "Jack. You're Jack.

"And I'm Alyss."

(^o^) (^_^;)

The next time they met, Alice stepped over the line first, fully expecting to turn into her white-haired counterpart. Instead, her transformation was nearly the same as Oz's.

She grew.

Her hair remained as dark as ever, but she could feel herself grow taller, her features lengthen and thin, as her body matured. Oz stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Wow. That's new."

The older Alice stared down at her now larger hands, with their lengthened fingers and long fingernails. "What… What just happened?"

Oz smiled. "Whatever just happened, you need a new name. How about Lacie?"

Alice thumped him on the head. "Stupid! You don't get to choose my name!"

"But Alice chose _my_ other name." Oz rubbed the top of his head and winced slightly. "So I should choose one of yours, don't you think?"

Lacie. It was a nice name.

She decided to keep it.

(*.*)

After they discovered they could go over to each other's side, they began to meet more often. Alice always managed to come when Oz was waiting, even when she didn't know he would be there, and Oz always had a nagging feeling whenever Alice waited for him by the border. It was instinct – maybe even fate.

But even though fate had decided to bring them together, it also pushed them apart. Oz began to notice it one day, when he went over to the darkness as Jack. Alice brought him to a small clearing not far away from their meeting place, with rubble and lost bits of furniture sunken into the floor of liquid darkness all over the place. She called it the "Abyss" and said that only she knew about it.

She sat on an ornate chair happily. "Hey, Jack, isn't this place nice?"

"It is," he agreed, if only to make her happy. He looked over to her with a smile on his face, then froze.

_No. This isn't right._

_Lacie. Where's Lacie?_ _That's Alice. Alice isn't right. Lacie, come back. Alice, you have to become Lacie. Lacie is-_

He shook his head and grabbed his temples. What was he thinking? It was Alice, Alice was the bright one, Alice was the one he-

_No. Lacie. Bring back Lacie._

He got to his feet and stumbled away. Behind him, Alice sat up.

"Jack? Where are you going?"

"I need to go," he muttered. "Jack… I'm…Jack…? No… I'm Oz…"

_No. You're Jack. And she should be Lacie. Bring back Lacie!_

He broke into a run. He ran and ran, never slowing despite Alice's yells, until he crossed over the border and became Oz again. He stumbled and fell.

_I'm… Oz. Yes. I'm Oz._

He heard a voice – _Jack's_ voice – whisper in his head. _Yes. You are. But not for long._

_When I'm back, I'm taking back Lacie._

'~'(?.?)

Alice was a bit puzzled when Oz insisted on staying in the light for their next few visits, but she didn't protest. She stepped over the boundary willingly each time, and every time, Oz led either Lacie or Alyss over to someplace new. She smiled fondly as she recalled those times when Lacie and Alyss had played with Oz.

Hold on…

Lacie and Alyss? _She_ was Lacie and Alyss – or, more precisely, _they_ were _her._

_No, I'm not._

_Me, neither. You're such a meanie, Alice! Even though we're both one and the same, I'm not Alice. I'm Alyss._

_And I'm Lacie. Why would you ever confused me for yourself?_

Alice blinked and shook her head. No, no, no – she was _Alice,_ and they were her.

_No, we're nooooot!_

_Hey, why don't you get Jack to come this time? Oz is a bit too…_cute_ for my liking._

_Oz is Oz and he's better than Jack! Now, shut up!_ Alice mentally screamed at them. To her relief, both of the voices shut up.

She was beginning to realize why Oz didn't want to cross over the boundary anymore.

"Alice, why don't you come over? I've got a new place to show you."

She swallowed hard and clutched her dark stuffed rabbit. "I… I can't."

He blinked. "What do you mean, you can't?"

"I mean, if I come over, I won't be Alice. I'll be Lacie, or Alyss."

She looked up, and Oz was startled to see tears in her eyes.

"Why can't we play together as Oz and Alice? Why does one of us have to change in order for us to spend time together?"

"Alice…"

Oz reached out his hands and stepped forward to take her face in between his hands, but she shook her head and shouted, "No! Don't come over, unless you promise you're going to stay as Oz!"

He halted a step away from the invisible line.

"I don't want to spend time with Jack." The words were tumbling out, faster and faster, like a torrent she couldn't stop. "I don't want to spend time with Jack, and I don't want to waste my time with Oz unless I can do it as Alice instead of Alyss, or Lacie. I don't want to have to become someone else – to let someone else take over my body – in order to be with you. Why can't we just be together? Why did our ancestors have to place this curse on their entire bloodline? Why- Why- _Why?!_"

Her legs gave way and she fell to the ground, sobbing. "It's not fair! _It's not fair!_ All I want – All I want is to be with you, Oz! But _I can't!_ And _you_ can't, either, no matter what you say!"

Oz stood silently and watched her as she cried. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to cross over and hug her, to hold her and comfort her as she cried – he couldn't bear to see her, his beloved Alice, cry like her heart was cracking in two. But if he did, it wouldn't be Oz consoling her – it would be Jack.

So he turned around and walked away, even as her sobs tore his heart to shreds.

(;.;) (._.)

One week later, they both showed up at the boundary line – a meeting that had never been planned, yet also wasn't a coincidence. They stood silently and watched each other – one in the land of darkness, the other in the land of light.

Oz was the first to speak. "Hi, Alice."

She didn't smile back. "Hey, Oz."

"So, I've been thinking."

She watched him carefully as he spoke. Something about him was off today. It wasn't only the fact that they hadn't met for a week. He was acting strangely.

"I can't be with you as Oz. If I'm with you as Jack, you'll be miserable, I'll be miserable, and Jack will be miserable because he doesn't like you, he likes Lacie."

Alice blinked. What? Lacie?

Oz noticed the surprise in her eyes. "Yeah, well, Jack's been developing a personality of his own lately."

Alice was about to open her mouth and say something – _so have Lacie and Alyss!_ – but decided against it. It didn't seem to be the right time.

"And so I thought. The curse – isn't it that we can't go into the other side without dying? Well, I thought… Maybe it has a different meaning. Maybe we need to die to go into the other side and remain the way we are."

Her eyes widened as he pulled a large scythe out from behind his back. Where had he gotten that? How come she hadn't noticed it?

Before she could do anything more than step forward in alarm, he lifted the scythe and smiled sadly. "Goodbye, Alice."

The scythe descended in a flash of crimson and white.

"_Oz!_"

He stumbled forward as blood poured from his chest. She cried out in dismay when he fell forward, over the invisible line – _what did the line matter? Why was the line ever important?_ – and into her arms.

"Oz, you great big idiot!" she yelled. She collapsed under his weight and sat with her legs folded under her, Oz's – not Jack's, _Oz's_ – head in her lap. "Why… _Why did you do that?_"

He smiled up at her and brushed a tear off her cheek. "Hey, Alice. This way… We're finally together. Aren't we?"

Her tears slipped down her face and splashed onto Oz's. Oz's cheeks, splattered with blood, tears – all hers, none of his – and she leaned down and gently kissed the bridge of his nose.

"Please, don't do this to me, Oz," she whispered. "Oz, Oz, Oz – you can't die, please don't die, Oz, _don't you dare leave me alone._ My world.. My world would be so lonely without you, Oz – _you can't die._"

"Don't cry, Alice." His voice was barely more than a whisper, a breath. "We're… Finally together… And…that's…"

His green eyes, once so vibrant and full of life, dulled. His hand fell to the ground beside him, and Alice whispered the end of his sentence, the sentence that he would never finish.

"_And that's all that matters."_

She cried. And as the daughter of darkness cried over the dead body of the son of light, the dark skies above her began to cry with her, weeping fat drops of blood-red rain.

_Oz. Don't leave me._

_Oz._

_Oz._

**Oz.**

(X.X) (;O;)

OTL

(X.X)

* * *

**A/N: **I'm actually reaally dissatisfied with this. As in, "I kinda hate it" dissatisfied. But, hey, I finished it, so what can I do. Well, hope you enjoyed, peoples!


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